110718 Jeju’s Local Government Says, “We’d Like JYJ To Continue Their Role As Our Honorary Ambassadors”

The local government of Jeju Island, which appointed JYJ as the honorary ambassadors of Jeju’s 7 Natural Wonders of the World nomination, has revealed its official position on the controversy surrounding the cancellation of JYJ’s performance on KBS’ ‘Special Live Challenge! 7 Natural Wonders of the World’.

On the 17th, JYJ’s agency C-JeS Entertainment stated in an official statement that, “The local government promised JYJ a special broadcasted performance and used them for promotional purposes, only to cancel their appointment ceremony. We will report the sponsors to the Fair Trade Commission for a unilateral cancellation notification four days before the performance without a mutual consent from the artistes.”

To this, a representative of the local government of Jeju Island who is in charge of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World nomination stated in a phone interview with ’10 Asia’, “We too feel deeply regrettable that JYJ can’t perform. We are grateful to them for working hard as our honorary ambassadors.” He continued to say, “We would like JYJ to continue their role as our honorary ambassadors.”

The local government of Jeju Island stated, “The honorary ambassador issue and the upcoming performance are not related in any way. Though the local government appointed the honorary ambassadors, we are not in the position to say anything about the performers of the concert as we aren’t in charge of it.”

When JYJ and the local government agreed on the promotional activities that JYJ would partake in as honorary ambassadors in April, JYJ did not have time to receive letters of appointment as they were busy with domestic and overseas activities. The local government stated, “We said that we would give them their letters of appointment whenever the opportunity arose, not that we would give them out at the upcoming concert.“

Regarding the fact that JYJ participated in three months of promotional activities without receiving their letters of appointment, the local government stated, “It’s hard to believe that anyone would come all the way down to Jeju Island to receive one letter of appointment, so we don’t hold much meaning in the letters,” and emphasized that both sides had agreed to start the promotional activities first.

The representative also added that most of the other honorary ambassadors of the cause, including Nam Jin, Go Doo Shim, Kim Tae Hee and Park Eun Hae, stated that they had been appointed as honorary ambassadors first and received their letters of appointment later.

The KBS Jeju representative who spoke to ’10 Asia’ continued to repeat, “We’ve already apologized to JYJ.”